Page 46 of The Viper's Wife

“Hey boss, we got half the boxes packed up already. We should be done in a couple hours,” he says once I approach.

I glance at the other men—Italian faces, probably the soldiers from Aceto’s old crew.

They nod to me with quiet respect as I catch their eyes. I imagine they’re not thrilled about the change in power, but they’re smart enough to understand they can’t do anything about it, and that I’m not the sort of man they should disappoint. As much as I hate my father, the family name comes in handy once in a while.

“What’s in the boxes?”

Stefano’s eyes go wide—for a moment, I spot theresemblance to his sister. “Uh, we haven’t checked yet, boss. We were waiting for you to arrive.”

Of course they haven’t—it’s easy to do bad shit when you can turn a blind eye.

“Well, there’s no time like the present,” I say. I pull out my pocket knife and flip it open.

Stefano and the rest of the men stop to watch as I walk to the nearest box and slice open the clear tape seal.

Boxes of tightly packed cell phones face me.

“Would you look at that?” I say “A brand new phone.”

I shimmy out a box and wave it at the guys. “Anyone need a new phone?”

None of them take the bait. I wiggle it like a worm on a hook. “Come on, nobody needs a present for their wife? Their kid? What’s the point of doing all this if we can’t skim a little off the top once in a while?”

That, they seem to understand, though they’re still skittish. The nearest guy steps forward, and I pass him the phone. I reached for the next box and hold it out. “Anyone else? Fortune favors the bold.”

One by one, they all take a phone, even Stefano. Once I’m through the top layer, I keep digging into the box.

Jackpot. A tightly wrapped brown package, about the size of a loaf of bread.

With the tip of my knife, I carve a small incision into the homemade wrapping until I’ve broken through.

White powder on the inside. I scoop a microscopic amount onto my knife, sniff it, and taste it, making sure to rub a bit under my lip.

A bitter, metallic taste numbs my gums.

Cocaine. Probably millions of dollars of cocaine in all of these boxes underneath the stolen phones.

I flick my knife closed and face the men. “I think I’mfeeling generous tonight—how about all of you go home for an early night and share your presents with your loved ones. Stefano and I will handle the rest of this.”

Stefano’s face goes pale, but the rest of the guys stand up a little straighter.

They figured out that if anyone’s getting punished tonight, it’ll be Stefano.

“Thanks, boss,” a few tell me before they all scuttle away into the darkness like cockroaches.

Stefano’s jaw is tight, but he doesn’t say a word.

“You got a knife?” I ask.

He looks a little nervous as he answers, “I saw box cutters in the warehouse.”

“Why don’t you go grab one?”

The night air is almost completely silent except for the distant sounds of the city and chunks of ice in the lake cracking against the shoreline. It’d be almost peaceful if it weren’t for all the work stretching out long before me.

I wonder what Valeria’s doing tonight. Is she watching one of the movies she likes, trying to push thoughts of me out of her head?

She doesn’t seem the type to curl in her bed and moon over a man, but it still gives me the warm fuzzies to think about.